Elevator speech

April/May Monthly Assignment

TROPICAL CYCLONE

March Monthly Assignment

5/5 assignment

1.  What impact did this experience have on my personal growth?
This experience taught me many great skills, the most important being accountability and time management skills. I had to be on a schedule and make sure I did what my mentors expected of me, as well as try to strive beyond my expectations.

2.  What was my greatest accomplishment?
My greatest accomplishment was working on the Trillium Trek. Elachee had to plan months in advance, and I was able to help with it all as well as plan the Kids Fun Run. It was a small responsibility, but a responsibility nonetheless and I had to put in extra time and effort to make it successful.

3.  What did you find most challenging about the mentorship?
I believe that a task is not fulfilled unless go past what they expected me to do. Bare minimum does not get the task done. Keeping this philosophy was probably the hardest part of my mentorship experience. Not just doing what my mentors asked, but doing it to the best of my ability.

4.  What did you discover about yourself?
I discovered that I have mentally matured beyond the average high schooler, and that I have a "leg up" in the work force when competing for jobs with people my age. 

5.  What influence will this experience have on your future academic and career choices?
My mentorships [at the Hall County Government and Elachee Nature Center] have influenced my future in that now I want to major in Communications and minor in environmental science when I go to university at UCLA.

6.  What did you learn from people you admire in the organization?
I learned that the office world is not black and white and bland. I was surprised the most when I saw how friendly and connected everyone was. When I work in my career, I want friendliness to be a key component of the working life. 

week 3/31 blog post

1.  What successes have you experienced?  What did they mean to you?
Elachee just recently hosted the Trillium Trek, which assisted them fundraise as a non-profit. I was able to help prepare that project for many weeks in advance and see it executed on race day, which was a proud accomplishment for me! I have become part of a team rather that a naive student, and this was the first event where I could show that. 

2.  What setbacks have you experienced?  What did you learn from those setbacks?

No matter what I do, I am still set back because I am a volunteer, or a non paid worker, at Elachee. Ive learned that I can learn from my mentors, but when push comes to shove, they are the ones that are trained to do their jobs, and have years of experience under their belt, and that is why I am learning from them, and not the other way around. In whatever i end up doing as a career, i look forward to being skilled and at the top of my field, rather than at the bottom like most young people are. 

Week 3/24

1.  On you blog this week, discuss how each of the following tasks are on-going at your mentorship.  Answer each of the questions posed below:

Career Path:  If you wanted to follow in the career path of someone at your internship site, what would you need to do to make this happen?  (Tip – ask the person for advice and use this in your response.)
My mentor went to college, so I would probably go to an accredited college and major in business and ecology, biology, environmental science, or something of that sort. Since Elachee is a non profit, I would need knowledge of how to run non profit organization and how to manage money inflow and outflow, as well as field experience of taking care of nature. 

Workload:  How does the organization distribute the level of work among the staff?  How equitable do you believe the distribution is?
Each person at Elachee has specific jobs to do, however, those jobs can overlap. The level of work at Elachee is evenly distributed amongst the different workers, even if it is not one specifically tasked job. 

Tasks:  What types of tasks are you discovering that you enjoy or excel at completing?  Which ones are less attractive or fulfilling?
Most time when i work in the office, I do minor tasks like envelope stuffing, and when I am in the animal room, I help renew the animals' food and water. Most of the jobs I do are simple and routine, so that is what I am good at right now. If I was given the task of leading trails (if i had the time), I would love to excel at that. It really just depends on what they want me to do. 

Week 3/17

1.  On you blog this week, discuss how each of the following interpersonal skills are on-going at your mentorship.  Answer each of the questions posed below:

Culture/Collegiality:  How would you describe the culture within your organization (ways in which co-workers interact or don’t interact) and how does this fit with your “ideal” employer?

The culture at Elachee is very comfortable, like we are family. Most of the people working there have been there for a long time, so most everyone knows each other. I like this style of working very much, because everyone respects, understands, and is comfortable with one another. 

Collaboration:  Describe the way in which the organization collaborates with other groups in the area.

Elachee Nature Center is all about interacting and collaborating with other groups in the area, whether it be human or not. They provide many goods and services to the environment and animals inhabiting the area to keep visitors interested. They collaborate with many people and groups for donations of money or time. Since Elachee is a non profit, many companies will donate for publicity or for tax reductions. Elachee also is a very popular spot for elementary school field trips from schools all around Hall County.  

Mentoring:  In what ways have you experienced or witnessed either informal or formal mentoring taking place within the organization, other than the mentoring you are experiencing?

With Rob Stewart as the new manager of Elachee as of last October, a couple minor changes have taken place. I have witnessed new employees being trained to take care of animals in the Animal Room, or trained to tour people on trails. Personally, I sometimes come in on weekends to get a different experience in my mentorship. This coming sunday, I will be helping with the annual Trillium Trek Trail Run, to get a different experience in at Elachee, especially with fundraising.